Tuesday, March 26, 2013

So 2013 has started off pretty well in the world of video games. TOMB RAIDER and BIOSHOCK INFINITE has certainly gotten people active on their consoles and PCs in the first quarter of the year, but this first gameplay footage from the upcoming game, RAIN from SCE Studios, looks amazing in its own right.

If the sound of ever-falling rain isn't enough to soothe you, then the music contained therein should do the trick. There are a few little piano stingers heard at first, but then, to my great surprise, we get wonderful piano-performance of CLAUDE DEBUSSY's "Clair de Lune." When was the last time you heard this classic in a video game? Ummm...never? Ok...so it was used in GRAN TURISMO 4, so I'll amend my question to "...heard this classic in a video game PROPERLY?"

Following this perfectly matching, musical moment, we get a couple of minutes of rather pensive string music and sound effects. We return to, what sounds to be an original piano piece, that clearly exudes that identifiable, Japanese structure - making me want to know just who's written this music all the more. It's brief but beautiful. Finally, this bit of gameplay concludes with a return to the darker, more threatening tone delivered by strings once again.

While not as colorful as he would likely make a game, while watching this, I couldn't help but think of director Makoto Shinkai (5 Centimeters Per Second, Children Who Chase Lost Voices from Deep Below) and his often, musical collaborator, Tenmon. The tone of this footage and even the design style reflected in the setting certainly feels like something that could come from his imagination. It also just so happens that Shinkai-san's upcoming feature Kotonoha no Niwa features the element of rain quite significantly; however, for the first time ever, he isn't collaborating with Tenmon on this one.

In any event, this game footage looks and sounds quite compelling and I look forward to diving in. Unfortunately, no release date has been published. At least we know it is this year sometime.

Want more? Below is the first trailer released by Sony Computer Entertainment last year.